


kitten is angry

by yodepalma



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, M/M, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yodepalma/pseuds/yodepalma
Summary: Cor gets turned into a cat, and ofcoursethe only person he can find to help is Dino.





	kitten is angry

**Author's Note:**

> Just...just roll with it, guys. I don't know what my brain is doing any more.
> 
> Title is from [Lemon Demon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaUURmC3rHw). Give it a listen. It'll cheer you up. <3

Cor lifts up his hand—his _paw_ —and stares at it. He has no idea how this happened. All he'd wanted to do was kill a daemon that was giving Galdin Quay trouble. And now he's a _cat_. A tiny, fluffy cat. Stuck outside the range of the daemon-repelling lights.

Oh well. There's no daemons around for the moment. He stares down at his katana. He's not going to get it back to Galdin like _this_ , but he can't stay out here and guard it, either. He'll have to find someone in town to retrieve it and hope they don't steal it.

The walk from Galdin hadn't _seemed_ so long on his way out here. But as a cat it takes _forever_ , and he spends most of that time running circles around hobgoblins and imps. He knows better than to fight them like this.

He bites one anyway. Damn thing yanked on his tail. It deserved it.

By the time he makes it to the lights, he's strongly considering flopping over in the sand and sleeping there. One look at his fluffy legs and he changes his mind. Getting the sand out of his coat would be hell. So he jumps up onto the long pier and makes his way toward the restaurant.

"Oh, _you're_ new." A soft voice brings him to a halt, and none other than Dino Ghiranze is slowly squatting down in front of him. He _hates_ reporters. He can feel his fur standing on end as he growls. "Easy there, precious. I just want to make sure you're not hurt."

Cor's tail _does_ still hurt from the daemon. He forces himself to settle down, but a soft growl still escapes as Dino reaches his fingers out toward Cor's face. Cor eyes his hand distastefully and resists the urge to swipe at him.

"There we go." Dino rubs the side of Cor's face, and then slowly starts petting him. It actually feels rather nice. Cor tolerates the touch until Dino's fingers reach the base of his tail. The sharp pain shocks Cor enough that his instincts kick in, and he spins around and snaps at Dino's hand. "So you _did_ have a run-in with the daemons, hm? Let's get you somewhere safe and take care of that."

Cor's abruptly lifted in the air, Dino's hand and arm carefully supporting his body. He digs his nails into his unwanted perch and growls. He doesn't need _help_. Not unless there's a remedy involved.

Dino scritches the top of Cor's head, right between the ears. It feels so good, Cor forgets to growl for a second. Being a cat is a _nuisance_.

"Where did you pick up that thing?" the chef at the restaurant asks, crossing her arms as Dino stroll up to her bar. "I hope you're not expecting me to feed this one too."

"But he looks so miserable." Dino lifts Cor toward her. Cor's ears flatten against his head and he growls again. He _is_ hungry, but not enough to put up with this happily.

"Probably because _you're_ holding him."

"Well, that's just mean." Dino tucks Cor in against his chest. "I think he's hurt, Coctura. You don't want him to starve too, do you?"

Coctura sighs and turns to her stove. "Fine. But just this _once_."

"You're the most beautiful woman in my life." Dino turns his attention to Cor and scratches under his chin. "Don't you agree, precious?"

Cor bites him. Not hard enough to make him bleed or anything, but enough to be satisfying.

"Some thanks I get," Dino mutters, shaking his hand free. "I ought to throw you back to the daemons."

He runs his hand down Cor's back instead. Cor gives up. There's clearly no persuading the idiot to let him go.

"Here." Coctura holds out a plate for Dino. "Now get that thing out of my restaurant before it gets hair in the food."

"Thanks." Dino takes the plate and heads over to the man standing outside the inn's door.

"Good morning, Mr. Ghiranze." The man doesn't bat an eye at Cor. Does anything faze receptionists?

"Morning, Sam," Dino says cheerfully, brushing by him. He balances the plate carefully on Cor's back and reaches for the door handle. Cor considers jumping to the floor and bolting back out of the room. Except the food smells good, and he's _tired_ , so he waits for Dino to put him and the plate down.

Cor sniffs at the food. He doesn't even _like_ fish normally, but once he reluctantly starts eating it he discovers that his cat taste buds aren't nearly as picky. Food is food. He'll take it.

He is a bit disappointed when it doesn't turn him human again, though. Food never has status-clearing effects when you need it to.

Dino walks around the room while Cor eats, and Cor's ears rotate to listen. His footsteps are soft on the hard floor, and he opens and closes a couple drawers. Cor eats until the plate is empty, then turns to see what Dino is doing.

He can't see _anything_ from the floor. He eyes the bed for a moment and, hoping he gauged the height and his ability to jump correctly, he leaps for the top of the bed.

He misjudged. His claws catch in the bedspread and he kicks his back legs uselessly as he tries to get traction to push himself up. Dino puts a hand on Cor's belly like he's going to help, and Cor nearly jumps out of his fur. He rips a claw free and somehow manages to scramble the rest of the way up.

Well, _that_ was humiliating. Cor glowers at Dino, who's _smiling_ at him. He should claw that cute look off his stupid face.

"You meant to do that, right?" Dino reaches out to pet Cor again, but Cor evades the fingers and turns his back to him. He doesn't want to be _touched_ , damnit.

Dino apparently isn't offended. He sits beside Cor and drops a handful of supplies on the bed. Cor eyes Dino for another long second, then leans in to sniff them. Not that he _needs_ to. It just...happens.

One of the things on the bed is a tiny roll of gauze. Is he _bleeding_? Cor glares at the gauze, then tries to twist around to see his tail. He can't quite see the base, but he does notice a streak of blood staining the white bits of his marbled fur. The cat in him _really_ wants to lick it away. He forces the urge down; he's embarrassed himself enough for one day.

"So you've noticed, hm?" Dino picks up some sort of wipe and rips it open. "Will you let me take care of it?"

He runs a gentle hand down Cor's back, but even though he's barely touching Cor, it still hurts when Dino starts wiping at his tail. Cor growls the entire time he's being cleaned, but manages to refrain from biting him. Even though Dino is _baby talking_ at him to assure him everything is fine.

Cor is going to have to kill Dino when this is all over. Nothing else will restore his dignity.

Dino carefully wraps Cor's tail in gauze. It feels weird and stiff and Cor doesn't _like_ it, but he doesn't want to leave a daemon wound open to the air either. He waves his tail a little and huffs. It'll do for now.

Cor wants to give Dino a grudging thank you, but he's currently a cat. It comes out in a high-pitched meow, and he instantly shuts his mouth to keep _that_ from happening again.

"You're welcome, precious." Dino rubs the top of Cor's head. Cor is going to bite him if he says precious one more time. "Do you want to take a nap? You must be tired." Dino pats his pillow invitingly.

Cor considers it for a moment. He's been up all night and he _is_ exhausted. But his katana is still out there, and if one of the hunters finds it he'll have to buy a _new_ one. Assuming he can find one outside of Insomnia.

He jumps off the bed and heads for the door, clawing at it lightly and then turning to give Dino a _look_.

"Sick of me already?" Dino shakes his head, but he gets up to open the door. "Go on, then. Shoo."

Cor takes a couple steps out the door, but he has the feeling Dino isn't going to follow. He looks back and meows.

"Oh, no." Dino reaches out with a foot and gives Cor's butt a gentle shove. " _I'm_ taking a nap. You go do whatever you want."

Cor squirms away, but doesn't go far. As soon as Dino puts his foot back down, Cor steps forward and bites at the end of Dino's pants. He tugs gently until Dino's expression turns soft.

"All right, _fine_." Dino rubs his forehead and steps back into the room. "And with my luck you'll want me to leave the resort."

Cor sits back on his haunches and watches. Dino pulls a box out of his drawer, staring at it for a long second before he opens it. The gun inside is _ancient_ , but it must still be functional because Dino loads it with practiced hands.

"I have to warn you I'm a _terrible_ shot." Dino bends over to pick up the dish Cor had eaten from. "So let's hope we don't run into anything."

Cor doubts they will. He's never been attacked out here in the _daytime_ , and the sun has risen high enough that no daemons will be out.

He waits patiently for Dino to return the dish to Coctura. She looks concerned when she sees the gun in Dino's hand, but Dino waves off whatever she's saying. Then he turns away and strolls through the restaurant. Cor leads him off the boardwalk and up into the scrubby grass.

He's almost mad that Dino has no issue keeping up with him, strolling along in Cor's wake and whistling something tuneless. If Cor were human, he'd point out that the whistling would attract any monsters to them, but now he can't even glare him into silence. He _hates_ being a cat.

When they get near the area where Cor's katana is, he runs forward to make sure it's still there. It hasn't moved, but Cor still sniffs at it in case there are any new smells. Once he's satisfied, he curls up on it to wait for Dino to catch up.

"What's this?" Dino kneels on the ground and carefully picks up the katana. "Did it belong to your owner?"

Cor meows and paws at the scabbard. There's no way for him to explain, is there? Well, at least he knows nobody is going to steal it. Now he just has to worry about Dino _selling_ it.

"There's no sign of anybody now." Dino stands up and shields his eyes, looking around with a frown. "Daemons must have gotten them."

Cor paws at the scabbard again, which only makes Dino smile and lean down to pet him. He obviously doesn't understand what Cor is trying to relay. _Useless_. Cor grumpily allows the petting for a few seconds, then swats his hand away and heads back to Galdin.

People turn to watch as Dino walks back to his room, their nervous eyes focused on the katana. Cor trots along with him, though he kind of wants to try out a hunter. He's not leaving his katana unguarded. Not that he'll be able to stop Dino from selling it in this state.

He needs to do some research on whatever he killed. What kind of a status effect lasts _this_ long?

Back in the room, Dino kicks off his shoes and replaces the gun back into its box. The katana he holds on to as he sits on the edge of the bed. He runs his fingers over the hilt of the sword. "This looks familiar…"

Cor jumps onto the bed on his first attempt. He crawls up onto Dino's lap so he can reach out and gently bite his fingers. He doesn't want to _hurt_ Dino this time, but he doesn't like seeing someone finger his blade so familiarly.

Dino narrows his eyes as he scratches under Cor's chin. Cor lifts his head to give him better access. If he's going to be stuck as a cat, he'd might as well enjoy it.  "You _are_ a cat, aren't you?"

Cor jerks away and growls. Of _course_ he figures it out just as Cor gives up on him.

Dino drops his head into his hands and groans. "Why _me_?"

Cor gives him a second to gather his thoughts. He's been wondering the same damn thing.

Dino sighs and carefully puts both Cor and his katana on the bed. He grumbles to himself as he digs through his belongings, but when he straightens up he has a remedy in hand.

"Okay, before I do this, two things. You aren't going to kill me for calling you precious, are you?"

Cor slowly shakes his head. He's not _that_ mad about it.

"Good. Now let me take that bandage off your tail." He puts the remedy on the bed and carefully unwraps the bandage. He makes a face as he throws it into the trash, not that there's much blood on it. "Ready?"

Cor stares at him without blinking. Of _course_ he's ready. It's not like he'll feel anything when he changes back.

Dino carefully breaks the remedy over Cor's back, and everything turns black for a second as the magic in the potion kicks in. He comes back to himself squatting awkwardly on the bed beside Dino. Unfolding himself alerts him to a sharp pain by his tailbone, and when he puts his hand to it his fingers come away wet with blood. He shouldn't be surprised. Remedies don't heal the way potions do.

"You don't have any potions, do you?" Cor asks, showing Dino his fingers.

"I've never _needed_ one." Dino scowls at the blood. "I can rebandage it if you want, though?"

Cor shrugs. He doubts it's a bad wound, but it's probably best not to bleed all over his only shirt. "I'd appreciate it."

Dino reaches for the supplies he left on the bed earlier. "You should probably take that off, then." He gestures vaguely to Cor's shirt.

Cor shrugs off his jacket, but pulling his shirt over his head makes him hiss in pain. Either it's worse than he expected, or he's overly sensitive after the transformations. If it bothers him for more than a couple days, he'll suck it up and buy a potion. He needs to stock up anyway.

Dino doesn't say anything as he carefully tapes a gauze pad to Cor's skin. His fingers dip briefly below the waistband of Cor's pants. Cor has to force himself not to react, his mind jumping to the feel of Dino's palm running down his back. He doesn't even _like_ Dino. At all.

"Are you a hunter?" Dino asks, lightly tracing an old scar on Cor's arm. "You're _very_ familiar."

Cor stays silent for a long moment. "I am now." He picks up his shirt and moves to stand. "Thank you for your help."

"Wait." Dino's grip on his arm is surprisingly tight. "That's it? You're not even going to tell me your _name_?"

"Cor." He turns to glare down at Dino. "And I know who _you_ are."

If Dino's surprised, he doesn't show it. His smirk is annoyingly smug as he stands up. "Well, I am rather notorious." He taps his fingertips to Cor's chest and slowly walks them up toward his neck. "And _you're_ Cor the Immortal. Aren't I lucky?"

"What do you want?" Cor scowls.

"Well…" He taps a finger against Cor's collarbone and smiles. He's ridiculously attractive, and Cor's willing to bet he's not above taking advantage of it. "You could buy me dinner, you know. As thanks."

"It's barely noon," Cor says.

Dino's smile doesn't twitch. "All right. Buy me lunch as thanks, and then dinner can be a date."

Cor should say no. He _wants_ to say no. But it gives him an excuse to stay for another day, rather than go out in the darkness and risk another unknown status effect.

"Fine." Cor pulls his shirt on, but he leaves his jacket on the bed. It's too hot for it anyway. "Lunch and _one_ date. I'm leaving in the morning."

"Oh, that's plenty of time." Dino pats Cor's arm. "I can't wait to see Coctura's face when you come out of my room."

Cor rolls his eyes. This is going to be a _disaster_.


End file.
